SparkPeople Member and Certified Running Coach
Nancy Howard has a degree in nursing. Her mission is to help others learn the process of living a healthy lifestyle and to let them know it is never too late to start. An avid runner, Nancy has competed in more than 100 road races since 2006, including 12 half marathons and Hood to Coast Relay--the largest in North America. She has lost 80 pounds--and kept it off--since joining SparkPeople in 2005. In 2009, she achieved two amazing goals: She became a Runners Club of America Certified Running Coach and ran the Chicago Marathon. She wants to inspire the world and let everyone know you don’t have to be an Olympian to run.
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Giving Thanks from Your SparkPeople Family
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy
In a few short days many of us will gather around the table with family and friends to give thanks for the many blessings bestowed on throughout the year. While today's Thanksgiving celebration is centered around mealtime, football games, parades and fun events, stopping to give thanks is still front and foremost for many of us.
Today's blog features quotes from our SparkPeople family to you as to what we are most thankful for. I hope you enjoy reading the quotes. While many of the names will be familiar with our members, we have many people behind the scenes who work diligently every day to give each and every one of you the ability to live the life you are meant to live.
Posted 11/22/2011 10:00:00 AM By: : 34 comments 17,314 views
The Art of Recovery: The Necessity of Sleep for Proper Recovery
This is part two in a series of blogs I am writing to help runners have a better understanding the role recovery plays in their healthy living journey. While I am primarily addressing runners, anyone can benefit from the information provided whether you are a cyclist, swimmer or just someone who likes to spend time in the gym.
In my first blog I addressed why recovery is such an essential part of our training. Not only does it allow for our muscles to repair, it also allows for reduction of inflammation within the body, especially within the muscles and joints. However, the most important aspect for recovery is allowing our bodies the opportunity to adapt to the demands of the sport of running.
But getting a runner to understand the importance of recovery can be one of the biggest challenges a running coach or personal trainer may experience. For many runners, especially those new to the sport, the need to stick with a rigid training program many times trumps their ability to listen to their bodies. To know that less can be more when it comes to running is a difficult concept for a number of runners to comprehend, especially when they feel so great after a run. Yet for many, the minute one begins to experience sleep disturbances, moodiness, a change in appetite and most importantly diminishing returns in his/her training, the first inclination is to step up his/her training. But unfortunately in doing so, the runner may be creating bigger issues down the road.
Over the years I have read a number of books and articles on the topic of running and there appears to be a growing trend regarding running injuries, outside an obvious trip or fall, and that is many running injuries are now believed to be caused from overuse and/or a lack of recovery time between runs and after runs. Everything from shoes to our running surface has been blamed for many of the injuries a runner may develop. And while these issues may account for some of the injuries or aches and pains we experience, the lack of recovery and overuse may be the biggest culprits.
Spending days, weeks and months of doing the same repetitive motion over and over may be the factor for these overuse injuries. Without adequate time for the body to adapt to the demands of running is like taking your car out for a hard drive every day never having the oil changed, the tire pressure checked, the belts checked or simple maintenance performed to keep your car running smoothly--overtime your car will eventually experience an issue-- same is true for your body. It's not a matter of if, but when.
I believe that education is essential in understanding the recovery process. Recovery is so much more than skipping a workout or two every now and then or eating a snack immediately after a difficult workout. It's about looking at your body as a whole package including your sleep patterns, nutrition, stress management and others measures, such as massage and compression garments that have been shown to help aid in our recovery.
Posted 11/15/2011 2:00:00 PM By: : 14 comments 14,426 views
Personal Trainer Gains 70 Pounds to Better Understand Client's Plight
A few weeks ago I came across a blog regarding personal trainer, Drew Manning of Utah, who decided in May of this year to take on the challenge of gaining weight via an unhealthy diet and lifestyle so that he could better relate with his overweight clients and the daily struggles they undergo to reclaim their health. In six months Drew Manning went from a healthy 193 pounds to a whopping unhealthy 264 pounds.
I'm not too sure if Mr. Manning is doing this to better understand his client's plight or for publicity, but regardless of his intentions, you can't argue the impact the videos and pictures have when you see how quickly one can lose his/her health by resorting to unhealthy habits. While most of us will not gain 70 pounds in 6 months, even just 5 pounds a year (less than half a pound a month) can add up to well over 50 pounds of extra weight in just a decade.
On November 1st Mr. Manning began the second phase of his Fit2Fat2Fit mission by going back to the healthy lifestyle he had before embarking on this jaunt of unhealthy habits. He will spend these next six month chronicling his journey to reclaiming his health.
I know the challenges of being 80 pounds overweight and the struggles that go along with carrying the extra weight, but in all fairness I am not sure anyone could relate to me and my issues.
While I may not know what it is like to be 100 or even 150 pounds overweight, I struggled and do struggle with many of the same issues countless of those who are or who have been overweight. The need to let go of perfection, along with the shame and guilt was a big turning point for me in letting go of the diet mentality. After 30 plus years of dieting, I finally learned that I do not have to have a PERFECT life to have a healthy life! However the biggest factor I discovered on my journey was the power in having others help me along the way. The support and encouragement, not to mention accountability from others, whether here on SparkPeople or in my real life, was a huge turning point. I felt I was able to reach my goals, not only in my weight loss journey, but my running journey as well, by having others boost me up when it would be far easier to throw in the towel.
Posted 11/8/2011 6:00:00 PM By: : 67 comments 22,757 views
The Journey of Overcoming Obstacles
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”~Lao Tzu
A few weeks ago a colleague sent me a link to an article from the Times NewsFeed regarding Canadian Jean Béliveau's 11-year walking journey and the lessons he learned along the way. She asked if I would be willing to blog about it. After reading the article I sat on it trying to find a common thread as to how I could relate this man's journey with the journey so many of us have taken.
When Jean Béliveau begin his journey 11 years ago he had no idea how long it would take to get to his goal. He started out running, but soon resorted to walking. He struggled with many obstacles, such as falling ill in Algeria to being mobbed in South Africa. And while he did consider giving up on his journey, his girlfriend encouraged him to continue on, which he did.
After 11 long years what started out as a journey to achieve a goal to walk around the world, he learned much more than he ever could have imagined when we took his first step. He came back with a "wealth of knowledge and understanding." While most of us will never embark on a journey of this magnitude, I think we can find a commonality between his journey and that of our own.
"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."~Michael Jordan
That commonality is that our life is a journey. We all have expectations and when our expectations fall short, it seems so much easier to give up than to push ahead. We plan, we take the steps to move us closer to our goals and for some reason, when we are confronted with an obstacle, this is what can cause many of us to turn away from our goals. After all life is so much easier when everything goes as planned. But it is truly the obstacles and how we overcome them that allow us to embrace the knowledge and wealth of living.
Posted 10/25/2011 2:00:00 PM By: : 29 comments 31,825 views
The Art of Recovery: Part 1
For many runners recovery is an often overlooked phase in their training. The "if some is good, therefore, more must be better" approach to training makes them believe the more they run or workout the better their performance will be or the faster the results will come. But unfortunately for many us that is not quite the case. In fact if you find yourself in a slump when it comes to your training runs or your race performance is being hindered, it may not be your lack of training that is leading you down this path, but your lack of rest and recovery that is putting you in that downward spiral.
Recovery is often percieved as something outside our training program. For many of us who spent a lifetime sitting on the couch there is something about going out for a nice run or hitting the gym for an hour to two every day. Being active makes us feel good. It makes us feel like we are in control. After all exercise is good for our bodies and our mental well-being, but what we may not appreciate is that rest and recovery are equally important in our journey to becoming fit and healthy.
Posted 10/18/2011 2:00:00 PM By: : 30 comments 34,038 views
Embracing a New Age
If you would have asked me 10 years ago what I thought I would be doing when I turned 50, in all fairness I probably would have never even guessed that I would spending that day running on a dirt path, climbing over obstacles, wading through water, climbing up muddy embankments all in the name of fun in the 2011 DFW Jailbreak Run.
I have never been one to hide my age or shun a birthday. In fact I considered each birthday as a blessing, especially since my birthday shares one of the darkest days in American history—September 11th. I, like many of you, can remember almost every detail of that eventful day. I know exactly where I was, what I was doing and the paralyzing fear of the unknown. There was no celebration, in fact there were more tears than laughs, but that doesn't mean my biological clocked stopped ticking. That year I celebrated my 40th birthday and for the next three years I struggled to find my way to reclaim not only my health, but my life. Something that I had been struggling to do for many, many years.
I spent most of my 30's and early 40's suffering from everything from migraines to acid reflex to the general aches and pains in my feet, knees and hips. Being 80 pounds heavier than I am today, I grew to accept these ailments as a part of my daily living. That is what happens when one grows older.
Posted 10/4/2011 2:00:00 PM By: : 73 comments 26,009 views
8 Beginner Yoga Poses
For years celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston have attributed their lean physiques and flexibility to yoga, an activity that has been practiced for thousands of years. Even SparkPeople's own dailySpark.com editor, Stepfanie Romine, practices as well as teaches yoga to students in the Cincinnati area.
Many athletes from runners, to gymnasts to even professional football players have embraced yoga as a means to help with flexibility, balance and posture alignment. It is also a great activity to help manage stress and with that middle age spread many of us are plagued with as we reach that time in our lives.
Posted 9/27/2011 10:00:00 AM By: : 37 comments 59,489 views
Celebrate Worldwide Day of Play on September 24th
Last week I wrote a blog regarding National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month with resources on how to encourage your children to become more active while pursuing a healthy lifestyle. But if you are at a loss as to what you can do to motivate your children, Nickelodeon, a network geared toward kids, has joined forces with the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) Challenge by proclaiming September 24th as Worldwide Day of Play. For three hours on this day, the Nickelodeon network will turn off all programming to encourage kids to get out and play, be active and have fun.
The Presidential Active Lifestyle Award Challenge is a pledge kids take to help motivatie them to get in 60 minutes of activity at least five days a week for six out of the eight weeks the pledge takes place. Activities include everything from walking the dog, riding a bike, rock climbing, taking up a new sport, even playing hide-and-go-seek with friends will count towards this goal. All this is in hopes that these kids will continue to pursue an active lifestyle well beyond the pledge period. Click on this link to download the pledge sheet so that your kids can track their daily activities. By posting this pledge sheet for all to see, these kids may just inspire others in the family to join in on the fun. At the end of the pledge period your kids will be given the opportunity to "share their accomplishment with Nick to receive digital rewards and a PALA certificate of accomplishment."
Posted 9/20/2011 11:00:00 AM By: : 14 comments 10,285 views
Health and Fitness Resources for Kids
September marks National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. In a blog I wrote last year on this topic, the statistics were and continue to be quite staggering with an estimated 30 percent of all children born after the year 2000 slated to develop type II diabetes, heart disease, cancer and asthma. And while it would be easy to turn a blind's eye to this epidemic, eventually we will all bear the cost of increase medical care and insurance premiums for these kids if parents do not take an active role in changing the course our kids are on.
With many schools limiting physical education classes, or in some cases eliminating them altogether, many kids do not even meet the minimum requirement of physical activity on a daily basis to achieve fitness benefits. As Dr. Birdie Varnedore mentioned in her recent dailySpark.com blog, we are meant to move and that includes kids as well.
Posted 9/13/2011 6:00:00 AM By: : 9 comments 17,322 views
Study: Control Migraine Pain with Cardio Exercise
Exercise has long been touted for helping us overcome such health issues as obesity, heart disease, type II diabetes, even some forms of depression. But according to a pilot study published earlier this year in the International Journal of Sports Medicine there is evidence that supports that aerobic exercise may be a treatment option for migraine suffers.
Because very few studies exist regarding the effects exercise has on migraine suffers, the basis for this study was not so much to determine the benefits of exercise, as much as it was to develop a training program for those who suffer from migraines.
The study group was quite small. It consisted of 16 migraine suffers--8 who did not participate in an exercise program and 8 who participated in a 10 week, three times per week running program. At the end of the study, the results were quite promising.
Posted 9/6/2011 6:00:00 AM By: : 46 comments 24,188 views
Your Running Surface May Not be Responsible for Your Running Injury
As an avid reader on the topic of running, what I have discovered in reading over 80 books on this subject is that the theory of running injuries varies as far and wide as the number of books I have on my shelf. Some have gone so far as to blame the shoes we wear or elect not to wear, while others blame our running form, while others blame the running surface and some even go so far as to blame the sport of running itself.
Last summer I wrote a blog on the best surfaces for runners to hone their skills. I did extensive research on this topic and was a firm believer that the type of surface we ran on either prevented or was responbile for causing many running injuries. However, my thought has shifted after reading several articles disputing the fact that there is no an ideal running surface for any of us.
After speaking with running coaches in my area on this topic, even attending several running workshops and a running symposium earlier this summer led by running coach and runner, Greg McMillan, I am taking a different approach as to what I believe is responsible for the injury rate amongst runners. In an article published earlier this summer in the New York Times, Dr. Hirofumi Tanaka, an exercise physiologist at the University of Texas, states, "he could not find any scientific evidence that a softer surface is beneficial to runners, nor could other experts he asked." But what may be responsible for the running injuries is making a sudden shift to a different running surface.
Posted 8/30/2011 6:00:00 PM By: : 28 comments 20,859 views
How Long Would You Wait Hoping to Become a Contestant on the Biggest Loser?
This past weekend in Dallas auditions were being held for the 13th season of the Biggest Loser. One gentleman stated that this was not his first audition to get on the show, that he has spent several years trying to be one of the lucky few to get a chance. While not trying to sound judgmental, I thought to myself, why is this young man not trying to change his life now? Why does he feel the only ticket to living and leading a healthy life is this show? What happens if he never gets that chance? To think that he believes this show is his only answer to losing weight and getting fit and healthy made me wonder how long any of us would wait, even if there is a small remote chance to be selected.
Posted 8/23/2011 6:00:00 PM By: : 88 comments 17,587 views
A Simple Act of Kindness: Saying Thank You
“Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it.” ~ Ralph Martson
I have been so busy the past few months with work, traveling and taking part in home remodeling projects that the only real books I have found myself reading were on the topic of running or health and fitness. Don't get me wrong, I love reading all that I can on these topics, but when my girlfriends asked if I had read Kathryn Stockett's novel, The Help, I had to admit I had not. Eager for me to see the movie with them, my homework assignment was to get the book read before we went to see the movie that came out a few short days ago.
Last week I finally picked up my copy and let me tell you, it is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. From the very onset I felt such a deep connection with each of the characters. Maybe because having spent the majority of my life living in the south, I could relate to many, but not all, the scenarios in the book.
If you are not familiar with the premise of the story, it is basically about a young journalist in Mississippi in the early 1960's who elicits the help of the black women who work for the white families in the Jackson area to guide her in writing a book about their lives and the trials they faced working for these families.
As I was reading this book, there was a meaningful message about half way through that truly touched my heart. It was when Skeeter, the journalist, was interviewing, Callie, a helper who cared for a white family who always made her feel less than adequate. She never felt appreciated during her tenure, however that all changed when the matriarch of the family passed away.
As Callie recounts the story to Skeeter, when Miss Margaret passed away, she was given a note by Miss Margaret's husband thanking her for taking care of her baby with colic years earlier. This scenario had happened many years before her passing, but she wanted Callie to know that she never forgot. There is a line that Ms. Stockett wrote following this exchange that truly pulled at my heart and it reads, "saying thank you, when you really mean it when you remember what someone done for you---it's so good."
Posted 8/16/2011 10:00:00 AM By: : 70 comments 29,738 views
Dealing with the Loss of a Pet
A few days ago I received a phone call from a friend who was crying and quite despondent. When I asked her what was wrong, in between sobs, she said her beloved golden retriever had passed away that morning . Having gone through this same journey with our golden retriever Belle in 2004 this news brought back a flood of emotions. The news of Missy's passing reopened wounds that I had been able to suppress over the past seven years.
Our sweet Belle was diagnosed with cancer in November 2003. It seemed to have come out of nowhere. One day she just quit eating and within days started losing weight. We had noticed her activity was not like it was, but she was ten years old so she no longer had the vim and vigor of a puppy. We were shocked to hear the diagnosis. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought dogs got cancer. She lived another three months before we had to make the toughest decision in our lives and that was to put her quietly out of her suffering. Let me tell you it was the most difficult part of the whole journey, but our vet was the best. She allowed us to stay with our beloved Belle until she took her final breath. To go home with just a collar and leash was devastating. In fact it was just a few months ago that I was finally able to let go of her collar and leash and surprisingly it still had her smell emanating from the purple 'necklace' she wore for years.
Posted 8/9/2011 2:00:00 PM By: : 183 comments 39,595 views
My 7 Favorite Kettlebell Exercises
Kettlebells continue to lead the way as one of the biggest fitness trends of 2011. Having participated in an eight week kettlebell class with a certified kettlebell instructor this past spring, it is now one of my favorite of all-time cross training activities that I do outside running.
Kettlebell training incorporates cardio using strength training moves when you transition quickly from one exercise to another. However, performing individual exercises can be quite challenging as well, while giving your body the same benefits as conventional strength training exercises.
Posted 8/2/2011 6:00:00 PM By: : 35 comments 41,801 views
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